Wink...the blog

summer in Chicago...{part 2}

I'm starting this set of previews with a display idea.  I've been chatting with clients over past few weeks about how to use family portraits around the house and I have a new collection of ideas to share with everyone.  I really love the photo ledge in this dining room and the ledge idea would translate well in a playroom, family room or even a bedroom...I think the key to nailing this look is to paint the area under the ledge a contrasting color to really make the framed prints stand out.

 

and now on to more Chicago previews.  I loved photographing this family again...so many laughs, such great connections!  Here is just a taste of what we captured..

 

 

 

and my favorite kind of family shot...just getting close gets everyone to have the best expressions!

more to share soon!

;)C

London home tour...

 

We moved to London just over a year ago and currently live in a 3-story rental townhome.  Many of the rentals here all have the same characteristics...cream paint on the walls, cream drapes, and...yes...for the bedrooms, even cream carpet!  To make personalizing our space even more a challenge add in some 200-year-old plaster walls that make hanging anything quite a challenge!

Desperate to personalize our new home,  I quickly found some "plaster friendly" wall hooks at the local Home Base and add in a few of the self-adhesive kind (they are amazingly strong) and I created a wall gallery in our upstairs hallway.  This gallery has (2) 11x14 prints, (2) 8x10, (2) 5x5, (1) 5x7 and (2) 4x6. 

I used the photo below for inspiration and tried to line up both the tops and bottoms of the frames in 2 horizontal lines.  These plaster walls are such a challenge, so it's not perfect- but no one is looking at the alignment anyway!

I also took inspriation from this photo with the prints at the top of a tall bookcase- bonus points for no wall hooks!!

 

we have these strange kitchen cabinets that open up from the top with all kinds of wasted space above.  Add (5) framed 8x10 prints in 16x20 frames and it's starting to look a little better...

And entering into the upstairs TV room I hung a family shot in 11x14.  Love the look of b&w prints in white frames...

 

I also scatter my favorite desk-sized prints in frames all around the house along with our favorite albums and images boxes and, voila...we have made our cream house a little more personal.

 

until next time;)

Char

{october inspiration}

I have decided to update the framing and display category at least monthly with new and inspiring framing ideas for your favorite portraits.  The past few months I have been keeping busy assisting my Chicago clients with making print and album selections and I wanted to pass on some of the framing ideas I have shared.

 

The first is an 8x10 gallery favorite (and most likely a Wink frame inspiration repeat).  The frames are from Room & Board (frames available at the Chicago retail location and on-line here) Simply set up a 9-frame wall gallery and swap out the photos over time to create a dynamic display.  The biggest bonus is both vertical and horizontal prints work together in the frame layout.  What to do with the 8x10's once you remove them?  Simply insert them into a leather portfolio book to keep on view.  I know Blick has some really great black leather portfolio books to choose from.

 

I love the fact that this display was created in a dining room...here is the opposite view of the room from Room and Board-

 

and another 8x10 gallery wall idea for a family/tv room with images all in a landscape orientation.  Notice the use of drawings with the b&W photographs...a great idea for creating a "splash of color" focal point and adding additional graphic elements.

How about a vertical row of large prints for your dining, living or Master bedroom?  I really have to steal this idea for future use in my own home.  I love the long horizontal line of prints across the long wall.  This would work with 11x14 sized prints or even 16x20...

And how about using large prints in your home?  Take a look at these great ideas!  We're not talking old stuffy large portraits above the fireplace anymore!

How great would this image be in a beach house with a pool?  Not that I have a beach house at the moment, but this image just inspired me to purchase an underwater case for my canon for the summer (you know, just in case!)

 

more inspriation coming soon;)

 

Char

PB frame sale...

Pottery barn is having a 20% frame sale with free shipping today.  A great place to pick up both desk and gallery frames.  Check it out here~

pottery barn frames

here are a few of the frames that caught my eye~

a little midsummer inspiration...

Whew, it's been a busy month!  The kids and I crossed the Atlantic just a little less than a month ago and our time has flown.  My time in Chicago was fabulous...oh, I miss that city (and even when the temperatures reached the high 90's no less!) and I had the chance to catch-up and photograph 12 families during my long weekend and take some beautiful images.  Can't wait to show a few previews in the coming weeks as I edit my way through all the sessions.

I have also been collecting examples of frame galleries to share on the blog.  Take a look through the following clips to see if anything inspires your own family galleries...

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Here is a great example of what my clients can do with their (3) included 8x10 portrait prints from the Chicago sessions.  I love the long frames and colored mats.

little green notebook

and I love the use of the large prints in the rooms below~

sixx design

what a great idea...white frames and large-scale prints in the upstairs hallway...love this!

and a few interesting frame galleries that caught my eye~

 

I love the use of the entire wall space in the gallery below.  Why not attempt the same look with family b&w images in a first floor powder room...

 

or an airy stairway gallery all in white with large mats and smaller-scale photographs~

 

happy gallery planning and I'll be back soon with some session previews....

update...I am still here!

I can hardly believe it has been months since I have posted...but I am about to make up for it. I have a series of Chicago sessions in the works for early July!  I will first be e-mailing my Chicago clients all the details, so if you are not in my contacts would like to the "in the know", please send me a note via e-mail or a request from the Wink website!

I also have some fun print inspiration to share. For now, I'll leave you with this great idea using smaller sized prints framed with a large mat I spotted on the cookie magazine blog. I think this would look great just about anywhere...

{the silk folio}

Wrapping up the week of framing inspiration I had in include a post on the silk gift folios we offer clients.  We put together dozens of these beautiful silk folios this holiday season and I wish I would have had the time to photograph all the beautiful color combinations as they left the studio.  The folios hold 2-4 images in vertical, horizontal or square format.  Each folio arrives in a wrapped gift box and pricing starts at $150.  While these are wildly popular for holiday gifts, they are also perfect for a special birthday present, valentine's gift or mother's day. 

If you are stuck on trying to select the perfect images from a recent session to feature in a folio, just give us a call.  I love how this recent client decided to select two images of her girls that work perfectly together.  The girls' mom gave three of these as holiday presents and I recently found out this was the hit gift of the season...

this one holds (2) 5x7 prints-

and the front-

There are hundreds of color combinations available and each time I send one out I find myself wanting a new one...(for my Chicago readers, it's just like picking up a new bag at 1154 Lill, the inspiration is endless!)

frame inspiration | day 4

Here's a great collection of wall galleries for just about any room in your home.  I especially love the first gallery with the children's artwork and different colored frames...this would be so much fun in a playroom!  And if you find yourself constantly adjusting your framed prints to straighten them out, just add those adhesive rubber dots or a little double stick tape to the back of the frame to keep them in place.

 

desire to inspire

 

cookie magazine

bijou kaleidoscope

 

pottery barn

frame inspiration | day 3

{the hallway gallery}

I think hallways make the perfect showcase of your favorite family photos.  Too keep it interesting, plan to rotate the arrangement and swap out the photos from year-to-year.  What a treat for your guests to stumble upon a hallway like this...

martha stewart

here is a Wink favorite of all time.  The parallel lines of the frames below allow for a graphic arrangement of different sized prints and frames.  I have had quite a few clients duplicate this in their own homes and it works equally well with matted frames...

 
with a how-to guide found here

ok, get out your magnifying glass to look at the second story of this foyer...the image below has a fantastic hallway gallery in white-on-white frames...beautiful!

 

desire to inspire

when looking for inspiration for your own gallery, take a look at different sized arrangements and make a note of the frames shapes and sizes.  This gallery would translate well if replaced with portraits.

desire to inspire

frame inspiration | day 2

I absolutely adore this headboard wall of photos!  The edge-to-edge design keeps all the frames straight and makes a great focal point behind the bed.  This idea would also work well behind a desk, in the kids' playroom or even in a vertical arrangement at the end of a hallway.  I especially love the idea of incorporating the solid colors and close-up shots in the arrangement below.  To complete the design, consider adding artistic gift wrapping, beautiful wallpaper, even your own kids' art into some of the frames...

found on New York Social Diary

lee gallery frames